The Last Episode Of Top Gear As We Know It Was A Flop

This was the final scene of Top Gear as we know it. An empty studio, two dejected car guys and an elephant in the room. Literally. Then, the killer final blow: “Thank you very much for watching. Goodbye.” No bombshell, no clapping, no personality. Just death.

While I won’t go into the details of the show (I don’t want to spoil it for those of you who haven’t seen it), what I can say is that the final episode was a ratings flop, with 5.3 million people bothering to tune in (the lowest figure for any episode in series 22). Perspective? When Lewis Hamilton appeared on the show in 2007, 8.5 million of us were captivated.

The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, Top Gear died for us the moment Jeremy Clarkson was officially fired. And when something’s broken, it’s hard to go back to it with the same emotion. It’s a little like someone stealing your beloved car. You might get it back, but it just won’t feel the same…

The second reason for the ratings flop was the lack of enthusiasm on Twitter and newspaper articles from the TG trio.

On Twitter, Clarkson even pointed out the lack of support from the BBC…

Strange that BBC News is talking down the last Top Gear tonight. Do they not want big ratings for some reason?

— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) June 28, 2015

And in Clarkson’s column in The Sun, he said:

“BBC Two is screening an edition of Top Gear cobbled together from two films that were made before I was fired.”

The way this comment is phrased (“BBC Two is screening an edition of Top Gear”) detaches Clarkson from the show. It’s the final snip of the umbilical chord and a blow to the BBC. The words “cobbled together” make the corporation seem like rank amateurs who can’t do a decent edit without Clarkson at the helm.

And you know what, Clarkson was right. The lonely studio scenes were awkward and depressing. And while the films themselves were hugely entertaining (three degenerates in sub-£250 SUVs is always going to be fun), at the back of everyone’s minds was the fear of how the show would end.

As it turns out, there was no ‘thanks for the memories’ compilation, no last word from the man who turned millions of kids into car guys and car girls. Just a huge anti-climax and a voiceover lady telling us what was coming next on BBC 2. We didn’t even have five seconds to mourn the death of our favourite show…

BUT, as one of you guys pointed out on CT last night:

“This is only the death of a name. Not the death of the show.”

So on that bombshell, goodnight, and we’ll see you soon!